Debt of a Gem
by Songbird's Spirit
Summary: A collection of stories detailing the strange friendship forged between Peridot and a human named Debbie. Peridot, owing a debt to the woman after she protected her gem while her physical form regenerated, vows to off the human the moment her debt is paid. But will time change the way these two think of one another? (Drabbles, One-Shots, Slight Language)
1. Salad Fingers

"Mornin' Salad Fingers." Debbie yawned as she passed the green alien on her way to the kitchen.

Peridot grunted in agitation and shot the ginger-haired human a withering glare.

"The only reason I haven't killed you is because you kept my gem safe while I was reforming." The alien snapped and stood up to follow after Debbie.

"Yeah. I know. You've reiterated that many times." The woman shrugged. "What's your point?"

"The point is: I can still kill you once my debt is paid." Peridot growled, "Once I repay you for keeping me alive I can kill you and claim your living quarters as my base!"

Debbie rolled her eyes and merely smirked before jamming her finger into the small dent in the gem's diamond-helm.

Peridot shrieked and flailed in an attempt to remove Debbie from the sensitive pressure point and wound up floundering on the floor while the human stood over her with a smug look on her face.

"For one, you talk big but have yet to back it up. For two," Debbie paused and Peridot watched suspiciously as the human's face softened and she offered a hand, "On earth we have this thing called 'co-existing'. In this case it would be two people living together and benefitting from the arrangement."

Peridot scoffed and got up on her own, "How could I benefit from you?" She snapped somewhat haughtily.

"You'll have someone to watch over you and somewhere to come crawling back to when you get your ass thrown around by the Crystal Gems." Debbie replied flatly.

Peridot visibly stiffened as Debbie moved closer, "You're not fooling anyone. You're a bad gem. Trying to destroy Earth I'm guessing."

"Then why are you helping me?" Peridot harshly demanded.

Debbie shrugged, "I could ask the same as to why you still follow a code of honor when your debt is to a human."

With that, Debbie turned and began riffling through the cabinets, leaving Peridot to silently watch her from the doorway.


	2. P E R I D O T

Debbie eyed the green glow of Peridot's "Sci-fi future" screen as it gave the dark living room an eerie glow. The letters or possibly numbers that rapidly scrolled along the screen were completely alien and undecipherable to the human woman.

Shrugging indifferently Debbie merely turned back to the novel she read, skimming along the familiar letters.

"What did you hope to accomplish by watching me work?" Peridot questioned out of the blue and Debbie looked up to find the alien giving her a suspicious look.

"I was curious," she replied honestly, "I've never seen the language and I can only speculate what those things are." Debbie studied them for a moment, "Though, since the characters aren't constantly repeating themselves I'd safely assume those are letters and not numbers."

Debbie watched as surprise etched into the green alien's features. Peridot turned away for a moment.

"It wouldn't matter to you. You're not a gem." Peridot muttered quietly.

Shrugged indifferently Debbie went back to reading her book while Peridot resumed her data cataloging. Only moments later did something occur to Debbie.

"Peridot?"

"What?" She grunted.

"Can you understand English?" Debbie asked.

Peridot replied with a flat look, "I can understand you...barely." She replied with a crinkled nose.

"I meant read. Can you read words in English." You growled back at her.

A faint tinge of green bloomed on Peridot's cheeks in what Debbie could only assume was a blush. She quickly turned away and looked back towards the screen, "No, I only speak it. I never learned how to write it."

"Oh...here." Debbie got up and padded into the kitchen.

Peridot raised a brow and soon padded after the woman. Debbie was hunched over a pad of paper and scrawled something on it.

P. E. R. I. D. O. T.

"What is it?" Peridot asked with another skeptical crinkle of her nose.

"It's your name."


	3. Bad Calibrations

It was a relatively peaceful morning for Debbie. Her morning mug of coffee with coconut milk, sugar, and honey was gripped in one hand while the other held a soft steakhouse-grade bread roll.

A gentle fog still ghosted the large expanse of old farm fields that were no longer in use. It was too close to an old gem battlefield that the land was no longer fertile. Not to mention the numerous chipped pieces of armor and weaponry strewn about the place half buried and ready to prevent any barefoot strolls she'd like to take.

Just as Debbie raised the mug to her lips a deafening explosion emanated from the nearby barn and rocked her home to its foundation. Debbie only scowled momentarily as she noted the broken mug and spilled coffee that stained her clothes and porch before rushing towards the slightly England's barn.

The red-haired woman skidded to a halt to throw the doors open and found Peridot face-down on the ground while her numerous flask-robonoids frantically scurried about to put out fires and check on their creator.

Debbie haphazardly kicked and nudged them out of her path as she made her way towards Peridot. The green alien groaned as Debbie lifted her to her feet and held her steady.

"Slight...mis-calibrations." She panted, "Need to...correct for future use." She stumbled but Debbie held her tight.

"Yeah, yeah. I hear ya. How about you try that once you can stand again?" Debbie chuckled quietly and pulled the gem back towards the house.

Seeing their master was now out of danger, the flask-robonoids set about repairing the barn.


	4. Mr Madruid

Peridot watched from one of the upstairs windows as Debbie 'quietly' argued with a large human man. A quick scan revealed that she was livid with high stress levels despite her relatively calm exterior.

Without a word, the green alien detached one of her fingers and sent it floating out of the room. Quickly, Peridot maneuvered the appendage through the space beneath the door and began transmitting the conversation to her own ears as well.

"You promised that the mortgage would stay fixed! That was the agreement!" Debbie scowled with a tone of fury laced into her words.

The large man shrugged, "My sincerest apologies-."

"Oh don't you dare give me that load of shit Mr. Madruid." Debbie seethed.

"Look. I promised your father to keep the mortgage level. He's been dead for nearly twenty years and since your mother's disappearance I've had no reason to keep that promise." He frowned.

"I'm still here! I'm still a member of that family!"

"Hardly! Your real mother was a street-crawling piece of trash! They isolated her for a reason! They shouldn't of taken her shit-spawn into their home after she died!" Mr. Madruid shouted and gestured to Debbie.

"Don't you DARE talk about MY family in such a way!" Debbie thundered and Peridot raised a brow at the human's volume. Only Jasper had ever gotten close to that sort of enraged level sound.

However, things only got worse. Peridot winced as a resounding slap echoed sharply through the audio receiver.

"You have until Tuesday."

With that said, fading footsteps crunched away and were soon replaced by the squeal of tires before Mr. Madruid peeled out of the dirt driveway and down the road.

Quickly retracting her finger from the scene Peridot took the stairs two at a time to find Debbie in the middle of slamming the door shut. An angry red mark marred the woman's upper left cheek.

"Who was that human?" Peridot asked as Debbie made her way to the kitchen.

"A bad man. And one of the humans this world would not care about if they were wiped from it."


	5. Acoustics

It was a late Thursday night, somewhere around 11:45, when Peridot found herself wandering around Debbie's property. She was torn between going back to the Kindergarten and remaining her to form a tactile way to escape the planet.

However, Peridot's silence was abruptly cut by a voice. For a moment the gem was irritated, but a curious fascination quickly replaced those feelings when a pleasing sort of sound began to accompany the words.

 _For so long now have I wondered_

 _Wondered, what it felt like to fly_

 _How long will a dream go unnoticed_

 _Before its bearer just lets it fade and die_

Raising a brow, Peridot followed the voice as it dipped and bobbed. To her slightly surprise, she found Debbie overlooking the battlefield nearby.

 _Such fairytales have been told_

 _Human's with glittering wings_

 _But don't you dare tell me at this age_

 _That such a dream may be my own_

 _That I can have such a thing_

 _Because right now the only thing I see are lies_

Peridot raised a brow as the woman's voice became stronger. Unwittingly, the tech-heavy gem began to record Debbie's voice as the wonderful acoustics of the cliff created a better sound than she would have normally made.

 _Each day that passes can seem like only a blink_

 _A rush of life many feel need to waste_

 _But sometimes I wonder if that's all we ever do_

 _When most of our dreams won't even come true_

Debbie suddenly stopped singing and whirled around to find the green gem watching her. She coughed and averted her gaze.

"I didn't hear you..." Debbie said softly.

Peridot reluctantly stopped the recording and haphazardly filed it away.

"I know. What was that anyway?" Peridot asked.

"What...the song?"

"Song? No, what were you doing?" Peridot asked.

"Singing. What did you think I was doing?" Debbie asked, bewildered.

Peridot shrugged indifferently, "I once heard Jasper tell Sapphire to stop singing. But I wasn't sure if this was the same. Your voice was forming words in a musical tone...Sapphire was not."

Debbie vaguely wondered who Jasper and Sapphire were but decided to disregard the names. "Yeah, it's pretty common on earth." Debbie replied.

"It sounded nice-." Peridot shrugged but abruptly stopped, "Not to say you sounded nice! That was...I mean..." Peridot was rapidly becoming flustered leaving Debbie to stand there and watch the gem dig herself a deeper hole.

"I get it." Debbie spoke up mercifully, catching Peridot's attention, "New data. Some...new behavioral kink to catalog. Don't worry about the explanations." Debbie said and walked past the green gem.

Peridot stood there silently watching the human female's back as it disappeared into the barren field. Once Debbie was out of earshot, Peridot opened an audio file from a few months ago.

 _I can see you hate the way we intermingle~ but I think you're just mad cause you're single~_


	6. Sour and Spice

"Debbie." Peridot's voice piped up from where as sat on the floor.

The human woman looked up at her and blinked, "Yes?"

"Why must you do that...strange thing every morning?" She queried with a crinkled nose.

Debbie raised a brow, "Strange thing? Care to elaborate?"

"You insert various items into the hole in your face you use to speak at various times throughout the day." Peridot paused, "It's disgusting."

Debbie blinked, "Hold on, you mean eating?" She asked dubiously.

"If that's what it is called." Peridot shrugged and summoned her screen.

"Eating...it's something we have to do. The things we eat provide nutrition and allow our bodies to function." Debbie shrugged.

"Okay. But how?" Peridot pressed.

Debbie merely replied with a thoughtful hum, "Our bodies require specific things to function and we can just make them on our own. However, the foods we eat have those 'specific things' so we ingest them so our bodies can take them."

Peridot let out a soft sound of disgust, "Such a primitive method. Evolutionary setback even." She muttered.

Debbie scoffed, "I'd like to see you eat a few different sweets or earth delicacies; you might find yourself humming a different tune."

Peridot blinked in confusion, "I'm not humming."

Debbie snorted, "It's an expression. It means to change your opinion." She explained.

Getting up off the couch Debbie took hold of Peridot's arm, much to her protest, and dragged her towards the kitchen.

Peridot watched somewhat irritably as Debbie flitted around the kitchen. Most of the time she was riffling through a large white mechanism who's insides were always cold.

Debbie suddenly dumped an armload of various jars, boxes, wrapped objects, and odd utensils before giving Peridot a sly grin.

"You seem like either a sour or spicy person...so...peppers or lemons?" Debbie asked and held up two objects.

Peridot stared at them. "And those are...?"

Debbie jiggled the red object. "This is a pepper and this," she juggled the yellow object, "is a lemon. Peppers are vegetables and lemons are fruits. I wanted to start off with something basic. After all, I don't want to cook a meal if you won't eat it."

Peridot rolled her eyes and took the 'lemon'. It looked relatively close to her own color, so why not? Nonetheless, she eyed it suspiciously.

"Will it hurt?" She asked tentatively.

Debbie shrugged, "It might make you pucker, but no, it won't hurt."

"Pucker?"

"Just eat the damn thing." Debbie huffed, "You're gonna be a picky one aren't you?"

Peridot rolled her eyes and eyed the slightly damp 'lemon' with a look of intense reluctance. Sucking in a deep breath, Peridot mimicked Debbie's movements and sunk her teeth into the fruit.

In an instant Peridot was overcome with an intense feeling that made her eyes cross and her mouth tense to the point of what she assumed was called 'puckering'.

"What have you done to me?!" Peridot squawked hoarsely through clenched teeth as Debbie hunched over the table, overcome with mirth.

"It's just a lemon Peridot!" Debbie choked out between giggles.

"It's killing me!"

Debbie could only laugh.


	7. Featheroids

Peridot sat in the barn tinkering with some old tech she had excavated from the farm-fields when it happened. A sudden squeal of tires had grabbed her attention and she was quick to drop the project and make her way to the window.

She found Debbie standing in front of another man; this one was a bit scrawnier than Mr. Madruid. A quick scan of her vital signs revealed an elevated heart rate and signs of increased perspiration.

Peridot raised a brow in suspicion. Why was she so worried about this man? He didn't look very scary.

However, a sharp spike of shock etched itself into Peridot's features when the man lunged forward and gripped Debbie by the shoulders, shaking her violently. Peridot's brow creased with light concern and irritation as Debbie grit her teeth and tried to fight back, pride seeping into her systems when the man drew back angrily, deep bloody marks puncturing his arms from Debbie's nails.

However, the pride was short-lived as the other man drew a gun from within his coat and pointed it at the woman. Peridot tensed in alarm.

"Deploy Featheroids V_1-3, target: Human Male_additional targets include all active projectile possessors within the area." Peridot commanded sharply, giving a quick command code to her robots.

Three bird like creatures quickly whizzed past the green gem's head and towards the two humans. V-I, dubbed as DuckBlaster by Steven, spewed bullet after bullet at the now startled human male.

Debbie stumbled back, falling backwards over the stairs and into her porch in equal amounts of shock. V-II and V-III, LaserOwl and Cheeper respectively, both immediately set to work on aiming for weak spot while synchronously attempting to disarm the man.

Peridot chuckled darkly to herself as the man let out a high pitched wail, screaming she believed it was called, before making a run for it. The Featheroids pursued the man as he all but scrambled into his vehicle and frantically activated it.

With a roar of the engine the man rapidly spun the car around and took off down the road. Peridot gave them a brief command to follow him to a certain point and then return, before making her way down from the upper landing of the barn's interior and down to the main floor where Debbie had made her way to during the commotion.

"What the hell was that?" Debbie asked, bewildered but quickly adding, "Not that I'm not grateful. Thank you, really..."

"They are Featheroids, V_1-3 to be exact. I designed them after observing various forms of the more primitive carbon-based life on this planet." Peridot said nonchalantly.

"Hold on, you mean to say you built those?" Debbie gaped and Peridot couldn't help but feel a swirl of pride bubble through her circuits.

"Of course I did. Who else could have?" She replied somewhat haughtily to which Debbie replied with a laugh.

An awkward sort of silence fell between the two as the weight of their one conversation, and even the actions that had just transpired between the two of them, began to make itself present.

Enemies didn't save one another.

Enemies didn't encourage them to try food or learn new things.

Enemies didn't compliment one another's achievements or applaud their handiwork.

But both Debbie and Peridot were doing such things...so what did that make them?

With an awkward sort of shuffle Debbie finally spoke up, "Well, uh, as I said...thanks for the save."

"Yeah, sure." Peridot looked away.

As the silence stretched further Debbie sighed and kicked her foot against the dirt, "See you inside."

"...whatever."

Flinching only minutely, Debbie took it as a chance to take her leave. So with a lazily spin on her heel, the human quietly padded out of the barn and towards the house, leaving Peridot to her own thoughts and devices.


	8. More Than We Were

Debbie sighed and swirled her coffee half-heartedly. Peridot had stowed herself away in that barn for three days now. She was starting to worry. Yes, Peridot wasn't pro-earth like the crystal gems...

"But does that make me a bad person for warming up to her?" The redhead mumbled to herself.

Peridot hadn't been very hostile as of late. Quite the opposite in fact. They had been sharing a living space for well over a month and a half and it hadn't been bad.

Debbie stood up and eyed the barn, hesitantly rocking back and forth on her feet. With a sigh, she set down her breakfast and padded down the steps, quietly making her way towards the barn.

Hesitating for only a second, Debbie put her hands on the wooden doors and shoved them open.

At first glance she didn't see any sign of her green acquaintance in the barn which was odd because her bright colors tended to stick out in the place. Debbie only took a few steps inside before a wayward flask-robonoid suddenly charged her and harmlessly bounced off her leg.

Rolling her eyes Debbie made her way towards the ladder to the second floor landing and about halfway up began to heard noises.

Upon reaching the top Debbie found Peridot hunched over numerous mechanical and obviously alien devices. Some of the machine bits did not have her color scheme and appeared to quite possibly be from her farm fields.

Peridot grumbled and banged on the thing irritably.

"Now that wasn't very nice." Debbie joked softly as she neared the woman.

Peridot jumped, having been too wrapped up in her work to take notice of her. Peridot scanned the woman's form, finding her to show no signs of hostility or anger. She was just a little nervous.

"What do you want?" Peridot said in as cold a voice as she could muster.

"Don't be like that, damnit." Debbie replied sharply, "We've known each other for a month and a half."

"What about it?" Peridot grunted.

"So, I want to know where we stand with one another." Debbie said calmly.

"We're enemies. Nothing else!" Peridot snapped.

Debbie abruptly stood up from the machine she had sat on and glared at the woman. Peridot shrunk back a little, never having experienced the business end of the woman's anger.

"Bullshit."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Debbie glowered, "That's a lie and you damn well know it."

"It's the truth!" Peridot shouted.

 _"And you know it's not!"_ Debbie thundered.

Peridot found herself shaken. That was the first time Debbie had ever truly risen her voice at her. She watched as the human began to pace, "I take in interest in your work. You took an interest in my music. I adore the nativity you have of this world. And you enjoy certain aspects of the planet, no matter how much you deny it."

Now Peridot was on her feet. "I cannot befriend a human! It is against my mission, my ethics, my existence!"

"And how is that any different from me?!" Debbie spat, "Your goal is to destroy my planet! As a human and as a part of my kind it is my job to hate you, to kill you, to do my best to off every last one of your kind in a violent bloodshed of an army!" She roared, "Befriending you means giving my enemy trust! Going back on some of my own blood ties! If anyone knew I was associated with you, that I didn't **smash** your gem to bits upon discovering it I would be _murdered_!"

Peridot and Debbie were both panting from their argument, just glaring at one another.

"You're not going to off us with your puny military." Peridot said after a few moments had passed.

Debbie nearly lost her patience, "That's not the point!"

"I know!" Peridot snapped and tossed her a cube-like crystal looking thing, "Let me finish."

Peridot gathered something in her hands before gesturing for her to move aside. "You're holding a portable Warp Pad."

Debbie raised a brow, "And what are we going to do with this...warp pad."

"We'll be going to another part of Earth where I've stashed extra equipment and personal items. You humans refer to it as 'The Stadium'." Peridot said briskly before pausing for a long moment, "I refuse to acknowledge any change in our current relations with one another. I would not go so far as to call us friends." She paused again, "But I will acknowledge your tendency to drag uncharacteristic actions from me that admittedly have little to do with my personal debt to you. So as more than acquaintances but less than friends, we have a middle ground."

Debbie locked a gaze with her for a long time, "Just say what you want to say for pity's sake. Yeah, I know we're not friends but more than acquaintances. What's that got to do with going to 'The Stadium'?"

"According to you friends protect one another." Peridot paused, "But since we are not friends yet I also do not wish you to die...I will leave it up to you to find something to defend yourself with and learn to use it on your own time...since your primitive weapons do not adhere much damage to us gems."

"Yeah, let's see if you can say that after being hit with a shotgun close range." Debbie muttered before padding after the gem.

 **It's somewhat overdue, but thank you so much for your reviews and feedback to the story. It's very appreciated.**

 **As for the Featheroids mentioned in the previous chapter, if you would like to see concept art of them PM me for a link.**

 **The Stadium is currently being designed and given a story. So I'll explain that on my DeviantArt page as well.**

 **A big thanks to NobodyJinx, Spektor vox, AlmostSuspicious, Beem0b0t, MizoreShirayukiFan, and the Guest.**


	9. Elapse of Time

"So...how does this thing work?" Debbie asked as she reluctantly stepped onto the small crystal structure.

Peridot gave her a look, "It's not going to do anything until I activate it." She huffed.

"Well how the hell would I know that?" Debbie retorted as she stood beside the gem.

Peridot merely rolled her eyes and with a quick flash of her gem the warp activated with a rapid burst of white light. Debbie shrieked and latched onto Peridot's arm as they were suddenly pulled skyward through the beam. Peridot raised a brow but reluctantly allowed the woman to hold onto her when her backside began to float higher than the rest of her.

The trip was short-lived and soon Debbie found herself once-again affected by gravity. Debbie yelped as she suddenly fell face-first in the dirt and scowled as Peridot rolled her eyes, "What a clod."

"Oh shut up," Debbie grumbled, "Maybe you should have warned me about the defining lack of gravity."

Peridot merely shrugged and began walking towards the decrepit structure nearby.

"The Stadium..." Debbie murmured and slowly began to pad after the gem.

The Stadium had been one of the decisive turning points in the Gem War. Humans and Gems alike had stood guard here to defend the earth. The once-popular baseball stadium had been reduced to little more than a pile of crumbling stone and concrete.

"Hey! Clod!"

Debbie snapped out of her musings as Peridot shouted at her from a dilapidated entrance to the Stadium. With a sigh, she rushed ahead to catch up with the green alien.

Things were quiet, save for the echoing footsteps, as Debbie and Peridot walked alongside one another through the halls of the Stadium.

"Hey...Peridot." Debbie said softly, "How old are you anyway?"

The green gem gave her a quizzical look, "Why would you want to know that?" Peridot scoffed dismissively, "It's not like it would matter to you."

Debbie rolled her eyes and sighed, "Nevermind then. It was just a question." Debbie replied.

For a few moments the semi-silence returned.

"Four years..." Peridot mumbled.

"What?" Debbie asked.

"I'm...four years old." Peridot grumbled a bit louder.

Debbie stared at the gem, completely gobsmacked by her answer. "Four years?!" Debbie cried, "There's no way in hell you're only four years old!"

Peridot glared at the woman, "I'm not lying! I breached four years ago and was fitted with my data!" Peridot snapped.

"Breached? Fitted with data?" Debbie repeated, her mind swirling with confusion.

"Gems are grown on Homeworld!" Peridot groaned in exasperation, "And after we're "born" they make us download battle specs, personal traits, proper conduct, and other basic information."

"Is that how all gems are?" Debbie asked as Peridot walked a little faster.

"Of course not!" Peridot huffed, "We can be born naturally. There just hasn't been one of those since the war began."

Peridot suddenly turned a sharp right and ducked under a fallen column. Debbie hesitantly followed after her and went slack-jawed with awe as she drank in the sights of what could be described as none other than Peridot's Room.

* * *

 **Okay, explanation time!**

 **I theorize that Peridot isn't an older gem. She has moments where she acts as though she was born recently. Sometimes she doesn't expect things on her own body to work, she can't shoot her own hand-cannon without falling yet, and she hasn't summoned a weapon from her gem.**

 **Sometimes even her behavior even hints that she's not quite used to her surroundings or even basic interactions with other people.**

 **And when I say Peridot's Room, I mean something akin to the Crystal Gem's rooms in the temple.**


	10. Peridot's Room

Unsurprisingly, Debbie couldn't figure out what half the junk in the place was, much less what it all could have possibly been used for. Boxes were piled all over the room, hordes of broken tech and off gizmos filling most of them with the occasional crumpled blueprint sticking out the top.

The space itself was rather roomy. Debris had formed, or possibly carved out, into a nice arch until it met with the wall of the stadium. From the looks of the ground, Peridot's room was on a section of the field.

Debbie took in the visual anomaly as Peridot crossed the room and began rummaging through one of the many boxes in the area.

"Hey, airhead!" Peridot snapped at the human, "Stop wasting time. Try to find something useful."

Debbie grumbled and stuck her tongue out at the gem. Peridot gave an indignant huff before making a pig nose in reply. The ginger human rolled her eyes and set about digging through Peridot's mess of belongings.

"For as fussy as you get about people messing with your things, I'm surprised you're letting me touch any of this stuff." Debbie mused aloud for the gem to hear.

"I didn't say that I liked it." Peridot grumbled back with a clear undertone of irritation in her words, "Besides, half of this junk is something those Crystal Clods broke." She harrumphed with a squeak of aggravation, "They're always breaking my things."

Peridot scowled and began tossing things into a pile behind her. Debbie shook her head and began rummaging through a different box. At about elbow-deep into its contents the woman recoiled. Amidst all the smooth metal or cracked pieces of machinery her fingers had brushed against something soft and fabric-like. Reaching back in, the woman wrapped her hand around the foreign leathery object and pulled it free from the crate.

"What in…" The woman trailed off as she found a belt, of all things, gripped in her hand.

Against her better judgement, and the encouragement of her curiosity, Debbie looped the belt through the loops of her jeans and clicked the ends together. The loud blare of static and bright flashes that suddenly emitted from the belt sent the woman tripping over herself and falling towards the ground. From somewhere in the room, Debbie heard Peridot swear.

The woman sat up and groaned just as Peridot skidded to a halt before her.

"You airhead, what did you touch?!" The green alien shouted.

"Hey! Take it easy," Debbie barked back with a huff, "I found this thing in one of the crates." Debbie muttered and pointed to the belt.

"You found a Gem Belt?" Peridot twitched a brow in surprise.

"Gem Belt? Kind of generic name-wise." Debbie replied.

"Well they weren't very reliable. We tried to mix the sterilized poofed gems with standard Homeworld tech. They're pretty glitched…I think Jasper mentioned something about their consciousness being trapped inside their own gems." Peridot waved dismissively.

Debbie glanced down at the gem. It was a dark violet color with a small bead resting on the lower rounded half of its teardrop shape. The bead was a lighter variation of the dark purple, with green lines running from it to the tips of the blue petals that sprouted from the gem.

Green arches sprouted from the petals to make a screen that was scrolling with text that was too tiny and fast to read. The text seemed to be affecting the purple gem, as lighter shades of text appeared whenever the gem pulsated.

"What kind of person were you?" Debbie mused in a soft whisper, removing the belt a moment later.

"There's a lot less working tech here than I thought there was." Peridot growled as Debbie walked over with the belt now resting dormant in her hand. "At this rate it might be more useful to teach you how to operate one of the PodFlasks."

Peridot suddenly froze up, a shiver running up her spine. In a sudden act of haste the green gem shoved Debbie into a pile of crates, sending them toppling over and mostly burying her beneath them. Before Debbie could even get a sound of anger in, Peridot pounced on the pile and hovered over her on all fours.

"Don't make a sound. If she sees you, we're both dead." The gem hissed much to Debbie's confusion.

That is, until a Peridot bounded to the floor and stood at attention. Not a fraction of a second later her gem glowed, activating a large screen on one side of the room. Once the screen flickered to life, the image was filled with one of the most disturbed and hateful-looking people she'd ever had the misfortune to see.

"At attention, Peridot." A feminine voice boomed venomously.

"Peridot reporting, Commander Yellow Diamond."


	11. Commander Communicator

Debbie watched with a mixture of acrid fear and shocked interest as the gem, apparently called Yellow Diamond, glared down at Peridot with a look of distaste.

"Peridot." Yellow Diamond scowled, "Why have I not received any reports on your progress? Or Jasper's."

Her voice was venomous and cold. Debbie immediately felt her heart drop. One wrong word could send this one reeling with anger.

"Our…strategy has not gone according to plan," Peridot said tonelessly, "Jasper is currently trapped in a fusion with the traitor, Lapis Lazuli, somewhere on the bottom of Earth's oceans."

There was an enraged scowl as the Commanding Gem slammed her fist down on the console in acute rage, "That weak-willed gem…is hardly of any use in a fight, and you are telling me that she is somehow keeping one of _my_ officers as a prisoner with fusion?!" Yellow Diamond thundered.

Peridot, to her credit, didn't even flinch. "Yes Commander."

For a moment all was silent, "Look into this further." Yellow Diamond hissed.

"What?" Peridot jolted, looking caught off guard.

The off-tone response earned Peridot a withering glare, but luckily little else, "If this, Lapis Lazuli, gem can keep prisoners with fusion, there is no reason we shall not be able to produce the same result."

"Yes, Yellow Diamond."

There was a pause, "I have sent Zircon to Earth for aide."

Debbie's eyes widened, watching as Peridot stiffened uncomfortably. "How long until estimated arrival?"

"Four days."

"Understood."

"Anything of use to report."

"The Crystal Gems have become a larger threat than we first assumed." Peridot scowled, "They've destroyed my ship and glitched my communications. I can only receive messages, no longer send them."

There was a simmering look immediately marring Yellow Diamond's face, "You're a mechanic."

"But-."

" _So FIX IT! Like you were programmed to do!"_ Yellow Diamond roared and with that, the communication was severed.

Debbie winced as Peridot flinched back, as if struck. Debbie warily removed herself from the pile of equipment and went to stand beside Peridot. For a while, nothing was said.

"C'mon Salad Fingers," Debbie sighed and plonked a hand down on her head, "Let's go home."

Without a word, Peridot obliged, head lowered and body tense. Debbie walked alongside her, flanking her left side like a silent guardian.

' _I'd be willing to bet things just got a lot more complicated.'_


	12. Who is Zircon

"Come on Peridot!" Debbie groaned as the green gem sat back-turned to her on the love seat.

"No!"

"Why not?!"

"Because!" Peridot leapt up, standing on the cushion, "It doesn't concern you!"

"Oh! Like hell it doesn't!" Debbie roared, "Someone named Zircon is coming to this planet and you can't even tell me who it is?!"

"No! I...I can't...UGH!" Peridot gripped her hair in exasperation.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly." The woman snapped and crossed her arms.

Peridot sat back down on the sofa, arms crossed in a pout.

"Dirt bomb."

"Crybaby."

"Flesh lump."

"Failure."

"Clod!"

"Clusterfuck!"

Debbie let out an explosive snort as Peridot turned and replied with an absolutely horrified expression.

"I do NOT!" She shrieked.

Debbie burst out laughing. "Whatever."

Silence weighed over the two once more until Peridot finally sighed.

"Zircon...is a general of sorts." Peridot relented, "it doesn't really identify as any of your earth genders, so you'd call it...sir."

"What's so bad about...Sir?"

"Zircon's worse than Jasper." Peridot grumbled, "All rules and failure is punishable by...Regenerative Bubbling."

"Bunable...what?"

"Try to keep up!" Peridot complained, "Regenerative Bubbling. We get poofed into our gems...and then they bubble us when we start to emerge. They keep us between existences." Peridot trembled. "It's not hard to go mad like that."

Debbie blinked in surprise, a ball of unease welling up in her chest. "This...this is bad."

"Gee, you think?"

"Oh shut up."

Peridot stood up and stretched, "Well if we're going to have to deal with Zircon, we'll have to make some changes to this base."

"Wait. What?" Debbie scrambled to her feet as the gem began to take measurements of her house, "Changes? What kind of changes?!" Debbie demanded, grasping at Peridot's forearm.

"Why does it matter?" Peridot scowled.

"Oh, I dunno? Why don't you like it when people touch _your_ things?" Debbie huffed.

The gem grumbled in aggravation, but she had at least gotten the point. "I want to install a direct warp panel to the Stadium in this structure."

Debbie sighed, "And why can't this be done in the barn?"

"Because, the barn isn't as secure." Peridot argued.

"Yes, and how is my house exponentially better secured than the barn?" Debbie snorted.

"It just is."

"I beg to differ."

"It IS!" Peridot shouted, face contorting in anger.

Debbie rolled her eyes and sighed. "Whatever. Just do what you have to."

"I plan to."


	13. In Distress

Debbie's eyes were wide with panic as she frantically scanned the road and ditches as she dashed along the yellow divider strip in the middle of the road. Her flashlight swung wildly in her grip, the beams bouncing as wildly as her frenzied thoughts.

The dark clouds above were too thick for any moonlight to penetrate, leaving her surroundings dark and foreboding as she searched.

The woman breathed a sigh of relief as her flashlight finally landed on an unmistakeable lime green mass.

Debbie dashed to the Gem's side as her groans became louder.

"Peridot? Hey, Peridot. C'mon you little green brat, answer me."

The woman blocked the limp swat the remark earned her from the gem. Peridot lifted her head with a bit of a struggle, but managed to glare at her nonetheless.

Debbie chuckled sheepishly and lifted Peridot into her arms with a grunt of effort.

"I can walk y'know." Peridot muttered.

"Bullshit." Debbie said with a brief glance, "You're missing a part of your leg."

"Limb enhancer."

"Whatever."

"...Where are we going?"

"Home."

"Why?"

"Because you're exhausted."

"But..."

"Where else would we be going?"

"..."

Debbie sighed, "If I do recall, I said the house was a place for you to go when the Crystal Gems beat you around."

"I wasn't beat around!"

"I'm not convinced."

"I...I-."

"You're exhausted." The woman interrupted and stopped beside the truck she had driven out here in response to Peridot's distress call.

"...whatever."

"You're welcome."


	14. Nope Train

If forced to choose, Debbie would say that out of all of her characteristics, she hated how useless she became under extreme stress the most.

Stress made her jittery. Extreme stress made her have the energetic insides of a sugar rush with the inner turmoil of the terminally insane.

Peridot hadn't been home in days, and had gone off only God knows where only a few days after losing her leg.

Debbie sat back on one of the sofas, hands folded neatly to allow her chin to rest atop them. Her body was buzzing with anxious energy, begging her to look for the "evil" green gem she had befriended.

However, her mind was securely rooted to the fact that she had no clue as to where the gem had gone.

How does one look for a friend without enough information to even make an educated guess.

Debbie continued to grow more agitated, growling under her breath as she continually drew blank after blank.

 _ ***I always thought I might be bad, now I'm sure that it's true-!***_

Debbie shrieked as her ringtone suddenly sliced the silent intensity of the atmosphere, effectively startling her.

With a huff, the woman snatched her phone from the end table and accepted the call.

"Hello?" She asked, doing her best to keep the agitation out of her tone.

*Uh...Uh, is this Debbie?* a voice asked hesitantly.

Debbie immediately noted the tone sounded male, but like a kid at the same time. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she finally replied, "Yes. This is Debbie. May I ask who's calling me?"

*Ah! Good! My name is Steven! Steven Universe.*

Debbie's pulse momentarily sped up with alarm, Peridot had mentioned this one.

"Steven Universe." Debbie repeated, "I've heard about you."

*You have?* Steven asked, sounding surprised, *Well, that's cool I guess.*

"Hm. And just why are you calling me Steven?" Debbie asked cautiously, struggling to sound pleasant while she formulated scenarios in her head.

*Well, we've got Peridot and-.*

"You have Peridot?!" Debbie yelped, fearing greatly for the young gem's life.

*Wait! Please, don't freak out! She's safe! I promise!*

Debbie was beginning to panic, until muffled sounds of the phone being shuffled around.

*Debbie,* a new, more serious and feminine voice spoke, *We need you to come to our home in Beach City. We have Peridot, and she has information to share with us. But she won't say anything unless you're here too.*

'How typical of Salad Fingers.' Debbie thought.

"I can be there shortly."

*Good. We'll-.*

"Can I speak to her for a moment?!" Debbie pleaded, "Just for a minute. I need to ask her a question."

There was a indecisive grunt and some muffled talking before the telltale sound of the phone being handed off were heard.

*Hello?! Debbie?*

"Yes, Peridot. It's Debbie."

*Hurry up and get over here!* Peridot snapped, *We need to get started immediately!*

"I know! But I needed to know if I could use the warp pad to get there." Debbie explained.

Peridot hummed thoughtfully, *I think you could if you used that belt of yours.*

"Thanks, see you soon Salad Fingers." Debbie smirked and hung up.

Rushing downstairs, the woman retrieved her belt from the desk and hesitantly wove it through her jean-loops. With a wary cringe she clicked it together and another series of bright flashes emitted from it.

However, the static was louder this time and Debbie began to panic as a green light began spreading over her body from the gem.

Debbie shrieked as she found herself unable to remove the belt, no matter how hard she tugged. The green light covered her eyes and Debbie could feel herself changing.

The light worked quickly and it was only a few moments before it faded. Debbie, wide eyed and close to having a panic-attack, dashed upstairs to the bathroom. She screamed at the reflection that greeted her.

Shorter hair, yellow-green visor, teal and light blue trench coat/jumpsuit hybrid, and alien-like combat boots.

Within mere seconds Debbie gripped both ends of the belt and yanked it hard, forcing the two ends apart and reversing the transformation with a simple flash of light.

Debbie gasped, hyperventilating in shock.

"Y'know what? How about fuck that?" The woman swallowed thickly, "Screw alien portals and belts that belong in the realm of magical-girl animes and franchises...I'll take my truck."

After one final self-inspection in the mirror, Debbie hurried downstairs and out the front door. True to her vow, she hopped inside the old pickup and tossed the belt in the backseat.

"Next stop: Beach City."


	15. Peritot (Important AN)

Debbie's knuckles were bone white as she pulled to a stop in the parking lot, mere inches from the gritty dunes of sand. Even after putting the truck in park and cutting the hum of the engine, Debbie continued to grip the steering wheel, nervous and rightfully so.

"What are you even afraid of?" Debbie lectured herself, "Just because you housed one of their enemies and fraternized with one of humanity's would-be destroyers, doesn't mean these Crystal Gens will pound you to a pulp on sight...yeah!" Debbie smacked the steering wheel, jumping lightly when the truck accidentally honked.

"Besides," she continued as she climbed out of the pickup with the belt in hand, locking the doors as she walked away, "There's that kid, Steven...? They wouldn't brutally murder someone in front of a child."

Yet the woman didn't even dare hum as she walked along the beach, already having a good idea of the Crystal Temple's location thanks to her own alien friend.

Though it didn't make her any more prepared for the temple's broken but undeniable majesty. As the woman stared up at the warrior-gem statue carved into the face of the cliff, some small part of her mind pondered whether the carving served a purpose or was merely a superfluous decoration.

"DEBBIE!"

The woman flinched, startled as a shrill voice beckoned her from the porch. Given the color and the tone, the person on the porch was undeniable.

"Peridot!" Debbie answered enthusiastically.

Debbie was quick to jog closer to the stairwell of the porch, but something was off. Peridot. She seemed, smaller.

A wide smile began to grow on the redhead's face as she neared the base of the porch.

"No, no fucking way..." Debbie beamed and took the stairs two at a time.

And their eyes met. Debbie stared at her. She stared back...well glared, Debbie's grin was easily driving her into high zones of annoyance.

"Well?" Peridot barked, "What?! Stop grinning at me!"

Debbie, still beaming like an idiot knelt down in front of her fuming green friend.

"If I promise to only use the name when no one else is around, will you please let me call you Peritot?" She whisper-begged.

Peridot screeched in outrage and flung herself at Debbie who easily blocked her blows. "Calm down! Calm down! Joke! Joke!" Debbie guffawed.

Peridot huffed, "Why do I even bother with you?!"

Debbie smiled softly and produced the belt in her hand, offering it to Peridot, "Because we're friends and I want to be there for you, like a friend would."

Peridot was silent for a moment, "Did...did you bring your truck."

The redhead nodded, "Your travel tools are inside."

Peridot managed a small smile. "Well, ahem, this is very acceptable."

Debbie rolled her eyes before casting a wary glance toward the door, "Are they as bad as you make them to be? Should I be worried?"

"Hmm, well the short purple, Amethyst, one is a little weird but otherwise fine, tall skinny with the pearl on her head is really annoying and strict but can be a pushover, and then tall strong magenta is Garnet." Peridot paused, "She's a fusion but doesn't say much. She's also the leader."

"But not bad?"

"I...suppose they're tolerable."

"That's enough for me," Debbie said and offered a quirked grin, "Let's not keep them waiting, yes?"

"Fine."

 **~*~ TBC ~*~**

 **ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING UPDATES!**

 **Okay, so let me explain...I quit my old job in "favor" of working somewhere where I could get more hours. The way they schedule is: If I'm not working it's because I have after school clubs or activities like piano lessons.**

 **I work basically from 4 to 9 every day except Monday and Wednesday.**

 **I barely have time to do much of anything anymore outside of work and schoolwork that has gotten much harder.**

 **Like having to rewrite the entirety of the U.S. Constitution, as a children's book, and read it to 4th graders, and are 25% of our grade is based off their enjoyment**

 **That's not even including Biology 2 packets, mixed media art projects, the children's book due for Creative Writing, Spanish 2 or Trigonometry.**

 **I'm very busy, and I'm fairly sure I'm about to lose my best friend of 12 years over it no less TT~TT.**

 **So, my apologies for the lack of updates, but life is very stressful right now...please forgive me.**

 **Till next time~**


	16. What's A Cluster

Debbie fought the urge to fidget as she stood awkwardly in the living area of the Gem's Temple. The three Crystal Gems stared back at Debbie with a variety of 'looks' though no one appeared hostile. Not to say she wasn't thankful when Peridot cleared her throat for attention.

"Cl-Gems, this is Debbie. Debbie, this is Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst." Peridot coughed, "And Steven."

Debbie gave an uneasy smile and waved halfheartedly. "H-hello."

"Hello Debbie!" Pearl blurted as she marched forward and stuck out her hand. "We're so glad you're here! Peridot just refused to tell us anything about the possibly earth-ravaging geo-weapon until you arrived." She twitched a bit.

Debbie gave Pearl's hand a tentative shake. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that." The redhead chuckled softly and turned to Peridot, "You could have told them without me. I don't mind basic rundowns y'know."

Peridot rolled her eyes, making her seem a bit cuter now that she was tiny. A hand clapped on Debbie's shoulder, startling the woman even more.

Behind her stood Garnet, seemingly expressionless. "Regardless, you are here now."

Debbie managed to offer an awkward smile of appreciation before standing with them near the kitchen and waiting for Peridot.

Peridot coughed again and Steven quickly left the room. "Ahem, as it seems I have no _other_ options, I have conceded to reveal some important information to you Crystal Gems...and Debbie."

Peridot snapped her fingers and Debbie had to fight back the chuckles as Steven came shuffling back in with a box over his head. A cute picture of the earth had been doodled on the front. With the flyswatter in hand, Peridot smacked the box -much to the woman's alarm- causing Steven to let out a muffled sound of surprise.

The redhead did her best to convey a 'be gentler' gesture, though ultimately couldn't tell whether or not the green gem had received it.

"This...Is the Earth. At the very center of the planet's core lies...the Cluster! Rotate." She straightened, "This is the Cluster. A massive, artificial fusion composed of millions of Gem Shards." The Gems noticeably shared a look of concern. "It has laid dormant for thousands of years within this planet's crust. When this Gem activates and takes its form, the result will be _catastrophic_. Now!"

Debbie couldn't even smile as Peridot hit the box -lighter this time- and Steven turned back to the earth picture, making odd sounds and bouncing up and down. She paled and gasped alongside the gems as a green sock puppet monster tore through the box, and therefore, the earth picture.

Debbie trembled, only vaguely aware of Peridot's argument with Steven about the incorrect representation of the Cluster's appearance. Her mind was reeling. So, what? The Earth had been some kind of...egg? One that would be obliterated upon this monster's hatching? That was...a little more than panic-inducing.

She felt her stomach drop. "The Earth will be destroyed." She whispered in horror as the thought completely sunk in.

Peridot looked slightly guilty but the expression was quick to fade. "But we can destroy the Cluster!" She assured the group with a bit more confidence. "What we _need_ is to build some sort of machine to take us to the center of the Earth. It'll need to withstand up to 360 gigapascals of pressure and temperatures of 9800 degrees."

"We'd best be able to do that...somehow." Debbie nodded as a calculating look flickered across Pearl's face, "I refuse to have billions of lives lost for the creation of some...geoweapon."

A look of irritation flickered across Peridot's face but went widely unnoticed by the group.

"I believe Debbie has said it best." Garnet spoke up, putting a hand on Debbie's shoulder. "We can -and will- put an end to that abomination." The gems all looked uneasy but had the same underlying determination. There were no other options.

"Well, we mustn't waste time. We need to start finding parts for this machine immediately." Pearl spoke up.

"Yes. _Obviously_." Peri drawled, "We'll start by dismantling all devices inside this dwelling."

Steven perked up from inside the box, "Wha-?"

"Wait, Peri!" Debbie yelped as the little green gem scuttled over to the microwave.

"This primitive radiation concentrator should come in handy!" You looked on in horror as Peridot managed to yank the microwave from its place and smashed it on the counter.

"Peridot, stop!" The woman dashed to catch her but only managed to clip her foot.

"This primitive vibration transmitter could possible serve a function!"

And there went the phone. Debbie groaned, and then let out a shriek as Peridot then picked up the television. "There's a remote chance something useful could be inside this primitive image cube!"

At this point the woman could only gawk in shock as her friend smashed the Television on the floor. However, before she could think of any words to scold her with, Steven had already leapt into action, his head poking out the hole the sock puppet had made.

"Wait! I have a better idea that doesn't involve destroying the house!" He blurted, sweating heavily.

Amethyst gave an amused smirk, "Classic Steven."

Debbie let out a sigh as Peridot seemed to listen to him. "Dear god, she's like a hyperactive little troll with too much strength to boot."

The comment elicited a snort from Pearl and Amethyst, though Garnet only offered a small grin. Debbie looked to the maroon gem, "I am so sorry about her. She normally doesn't do that…"

"Really?" Amethyst snorted, "She always does that to us."

Debbie blanched, "I...oh dear…"

Finally calmed down, Peridot approached Debbie as Steven explained his plan to the other gems.

"Somethin' wrong, Salad Fingers?"

"I need a favor."

"Alright, I'm listening. But first-."

Peridot let out a squeak as Debbie's face grew dark. Before she could react, Debbie gave her a healthy whap upside the head. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"You destroyed their stuff! You don't just do that to people!"

"So?!"

 ***WHAP***

"OW! Quit it!"

* * *

 **Sorry for the delay...by a few months. I don't own anything with Steven Universe. Some of the dialogue came from the Back to the Barn audio transcript to keep the events in line. That and correlating expressions, tones, timing, and quirks with the actual episode...**

 **Heh, long story short, the process was going to take some time and a lot of effort and I was too lazy to kick myself into gear. Really...I had the rest of the story written except for the correlations to the actual events in the show. I'm a lazy writer. So sorry about that.**


	17. A Chance to Talk

Debbie couldn't help but feel more relaxed as she drove Peridot back to the barn to pick up a few necessary items and check over some charts. Pearl seemed wary about letting Peridot out of their sight, but Garnet had helped the woman convince the others. Though Pearl only truly relented after seeing that Steven seemed pretty happy to know that Peridot had another human friend.

Debbie couldn't help but grin when the boy had promised to swap stories with her if they had time.

"Hey, you doin' alright?" Debbie asked.

Peridot gave a grunt and crossed her arm. "I lost the rest of my limb enhancers."

"I can see that." Debbie chuckled, though the mirth died upon seeing the furious look on Peridot's face.

"You stupid clod," Peri shouted, "You don't get it! I can't moved around like a used to! I'm short and I'll continue to be short cause I can't get back to Homeworld!"

Debbie raised her brows as Peridot gave her a withering glare. Returning her gaze to the road, Debbie sighed. "Look, I know you preferred to walk around with them but just because you don't have them anymore doesn't make you any less of a person."

"I don't follow." Peridot blanched. "They took away my limbs, of course I'm less than what I used to be."

Some small part of the woman flared proudly at the fact the Peridot seemed to have admitted such a thing without giving it much thought. Nonetheless, Debbie chuckled lightly.

"That's not quite what I was getting at you goofball."

"What's a goofball?"

"An affectionate way to say idiot," Debbie scoffed at the scrunched look suspicion of Peri's face, "Friendly affection you weirdo."

Peridot merely huffed, "What were you saying about my limbs."

Debbie smiled. "It wasn't as corporeal of an idea as you were making it to be." She explained as she pulled onto her long gravel driveway. "Here, let me put it this way."

Debbie pulled the truck to a stop and hopped out, padding after Peridot. "When I was a little girl I was very insecure. People made fun of me, mostly for my hair. Red hair isn't really common, especially around here." Debbie sat back on a haybale as Peridot scampered around the barn, "And as I got older it only got worse from there. Once I hit my teen years I was forced to realize I needed glasses. At the time, glasses were considered really uncool by a lot of people. They made fun of me and called me stupid names. It was as though I wasn't as much of a person as they were because I wasn't like them."

"But how does that have anything to do with me?"

"You feel inadequate because you don't have your limb enhancers, right?"

"...sure."

"So...looking at it from a different angle, one could also say you feel that way because you're simply you again."

Peridot paused, seemingly unable to look at Debbie. "But y'know what. I found that I was being irrational when it came to how other people treated me." Debbie let out a laugh, "You'd be surprised the wonders that life can offer you when you simply look at things from a different perspective."

"The one you gave me didn't sound all that good." Peridot grumbled, eliciting another laugh from the human.

"Well, honestly it wasn't one." Debbie shrugged sheepishly, "But, hmm...let's take your new height for example. Even though you're smaller, your strength doesn't seem all that inhibited if your little show with the appliances were anything to go by."

"Well of course I'm still strong!"

"Mmhmm, and in addition, there's a common thought among people that smaller people are harder to catch. People might hype you a bit in that regard due to size, not to mention how easily you'll be able to fit into the nooks and crannies other people may not be able to."

Peridot's eyes suddenly shined, "So...even though I'm smaller...I'm not at a disadvantage!"

"I gue-."

"SO I'M STILL THE SUPERIOR GEM!"

Debbie gave a sheepish chuckle, "Sure, why not?"

"Hmph, I knew there was a reason I was able to tolerate you from the start. You are actually rather insightful for a fleshy lump."

The redhead grinned, "Did you just admit that you liked me from the start?"

"Uh...no."

"Are you sure?"

Peridot nodded resolutely, "Of course, my code of honor only applied because I could tolerate you."

"Um...I'm not sure I follow."

"Y'know," She shrugged, "You were...um, didn't make me want to crush you under the weight of a Homeworld Aerial Strike...all the time."

Debbie merely stared, "Thank...you?"

"Anyway, now that we've established that I'm still superior as a gem," Peridot giggled with an alarming amount of glee, "What made your red hair and glasses so great?"

"Oh, well it's actually kinda funny." The woman smiled fondly, "Some places consider red hair to be a staple of exotic beauty because it's so rare. Other places, and pop culture associate it with demons and beings with the ability to steal your soul."

Peridot snorted.

"As for the glasses, it makes it easier for me to get a job if statistics are anything to go by. Studies show that -when businesses interview multiple people for the same job position, people with glasses are more likely to be hired because it has become a symbol of intellectual talent or superiority rather than just signaling someone has poor eyesight."

"Humans are weird."

"That's all you've got to say to that?"

The gem merely shrugged and signaled that she was ready to return. Upon turning onto the road, Debbie spoke up. "So what did you need anyway?"

"A couple of charts and timetables...and the warp pad, though only for emergencies."

"Oh? Anything about Zircon?"

"Why would I be worried about Zircon?"

The woman gave the gem a flat look, "Well I dunno, you seemed pretty _terrified_ the last time we heard about...them?"

"Zircon may be scary, but not so much as their driving...and sense of direction."

"What? So you think they'll be delayed by their bad navigational skills?"

"That's normally how that goes…" Peridot shuddered.

"...huh."

* * *

 **Hope you don't mind a little filler chapter interactions between Debbie and Peridot before the story goes back to the format in chapter 16.**

 **I hope trying to collaborate with transcripts and episode layouts won't be too challenging. Though, I've been taking notes and writing down ideas for interactions and cutscenes. I think you guys will like them :D**

 _ **Though, I can't say I'm not a little worried that I've been making Peridot seem a little OOC...what do you guys think?**_


	18. Mecha Mayhem

Debbie clucked her tongue as she sat down next to Peri on the grass. The greenish gem barely acknowledged her, opting instead to stare down the similarly colored blades of grass.

"It's okay that you lost, y'know?" Debbie said quietly as she fell back into the grass.

Much to her surprise, the gem flopped on top of her, laying her triangle head atop her stomach.

"No, it's not okay. How can you say that?"

"What's wrong with losing?"

"I wasn't made to lose, not like this. Not in a game of tactile and robotics." Peridot muttered, more confused then ever.

"Technically, you didn't lose."

"But I did anyway. They all claimed her the winner."

"Well, she won because of you if you think about it." Debbie chuckled.

"I don't follow." Peridot shifted to raise a brow at the woman.

Debbie snickered and folded her hands behind her head. "You managed to piss off that gem so much that she _actually_ punched you. You got a rise out of her. Pushed her to her limit. I'd definitely call that a win."

"So...everyone won?"

"Sure, that's one way to think about it."

"That...doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would."

"That's good."

"...what's wrong with this crazy planet?"

"If I ever find out, you'll be the first to know."


	19. More than One Stray

Debbie sighed as she picked through the enormous pile of metal bits and parts. After working on her aunt and uncle's farm for so long, she'd come to learn how to repair the farming equipment as well. So she tasked herself with sorting the bits into piles.

Useful pieces went on one side while scrap for melting went into another.

"At least I can still be useful…" She muttered, briefly wondering what Peridot was currently up to.

"DEBBIE!"

The woman flinched as her name was screeched. Scrambling to her feet, she dashed out of the barn to find Peridot running around screeching her head off...with a cat chasing after her.

"Oh my," she chuckled and rushed to her small friend.

Slipping between the cat and the alien, she swiped at the stray and shouted. "Get! Get on! Go home! No!" She blurted loud and angry, watching as the calico hissed and scampered away.

"Pissy kitty…" Debbie grumbled and turned back to Peridot. "You alright?"

"What was that thing?!" She snapped, giving a suspicious glare in the direction the cat had retreated.

"It was just a stray. They're normally pretty harmless. Stray cats are pretty common wherever you go." She shrugged, "A number of them sneak in the fields at night to catch the mice."

Peridot just grumbled but soon ducked away. "I'm...sorry about the other day."

Debbie sighed, "It's...I know. It's fine. It happened three days ago, anyway."

"It's not fine!" Peridot yelled, "You're my only friend here! Well...I mean…"

The redhead softened her gaze. "Amethyst seems to like you. Steven too."

"Not anymore." She grumbled, though there was a twinge of regret in her tone.

"Let's go sit, you can tell me about it."

"...okay."

* * *

"I saved her life!" Peridot scowled, "But I still feel...small."

"You made her feel bad." Debbie sighed, "Look, I don't know Amethyst's story, and I doubt she'd tell us if she asked. But if what you say is true, that she's not as good as she could have been...that's going to hurt. A lot."

"But...I was just stating the facts!"

Peridot gulped as Debbie steeled her gaze. "You've lost all of what little intimidation you had because you're actually much shorter than you led me to believe."

"Hey! I-!"

"I was just stating a fact." Debbie shrugged.

"...I see your point." Peri brought her knees to her chest. "But, what do I do?"

"Well, I've found that an apology is a pretty good way to start." Debbie smiled gently.

"But...but, what would I say?! I could barely speak to her when I was face to face with her!"

"Well," Debbie furrowed her brows, "You're pretty articulate with that recorder Steven gave you."

"...Debbie, you're a genius."

"Heh...I have my moments."


	20. Birthday Wallflowers

"You don't want to join the party?" Debbie prodded as Peridot ambled away from the party with a protective steel mask.

Debbie chuckled to herself as Peridot climbed into the base of the drill with a bit of difficulty due to her size. One flutter kick later, Peridot fell in with a triumphant whoop.

Debbie raised an amused brow as the little green gem peered back at her.

"No, if we're going to be kept on schedule then someone has to keep working. Besides, I don't quite understand what they find so special about birthdays anyway." Peridot huffed and ducked into the machine.

Debbie actually laughed. "Y'know. That's actually pretty common on earth."

"What? Not liking birthdays?"

"Yeah, exactly. Though our reasons are probably a little different than yours." Debbie smiled.

"The probability of that is astronomically high."

The ginger woman snorted. "You think so too?"

"After spending so long with you it would be impossible not to." Peridot grumbled and popped her head up to give Debbie an impassive look, "You understand your species better than I do."

"Even so…" Debbie shrugged, "It's funny to me though. You gems live for such a long time I'm not surprised that birthdays don't mean very much to you."

"So why would humans celebrate their already short existence?" Peri snorted.

"I think it's more about the responsibility." She shrugged, "We grow older, we're exposed to more of the world and what other people can offer...and Steven, I don't really know much about this...Rose Quartz person…"

"Rose Quartz is Steven's mother."

Debbie's eyes widened. "Okay...then where is she? She's the gem side of him, clearly-."

"Exactly."

"Huh?"

"Gems don't do live birth like humans. But somehow Rose did. It would seem that she had to forgo her own form to create a suitable body made from a combination of her Gemetics and Greg's Genetics." Peridot murmured, "There's nothing else like him. He's part Gem and part human, but it shouldn't be possible…"

"Good god…" Debbie hugged her arms, "Maybe that's why they celebrate?"

"Huh?"

"Gems don't age, right? But humans do. If he's a part of Rose...and he'll age normally...hmm."

"What are you talking about?" Peridot prodded.

"He might age slower due to his gem half, but still. Compared to a gem, he's not going to live nearly as long. They would want to celebrate each year they have with him, wouldn't they?"

"Oh…"

"...y'know, at the very least you should go and try some cake."

"Why?"

"It's sweet. And by the looks of it it'll taste pretty good too!"

"I dunno…"

"It's nothing like the lemon, I promise."

"Sh-shut up!"


	21. Personal Music

"Debbie, I'm writing a song."

The ginger woman blinked at her friend and sat back in the dirt, removing her gardening gloves. "Really now?"

"Yeah, Steven showed me his keys and Fa ti da's and do's." Peridot grinned and Debbie struggled to contain her laughter, "He sang with me and now I'm gonna write a song."

"That's great! Do you want some paper and a pencil? Your spelling and writing are coming along great, it wouldn't be too hard." Debbie smiled.

"Sure. It's just. How do you write the...these songs?" Peridot slumped a bit, looking mildly sheepish.

The ginger smiled, "well, what do you have so far?"

"Um, well," Peridot straightened and cleared her throat, "we sang this together so you can't laugh."

"Promise."

"Okay."

 _Life and death and love and birth,_

 _And peace and war on the planet earth._

 _Is there anything that's worth more,_

 _Than peace and love on the planet earth?_

"That's pretty great actually. It's got a simple tune. So just follow that."

"Okay, but what do I say? What words are song words?!"

Debbie patted the ground beside her and Peridot quickly took a seat.

"Any words can be song words. What matters is how you feel and how those feelings form your words."

"My words?"

"Yup, your words. My, uh, aunt told me that when people sing -if the words are their true feelings- then they're also their words...something that speaks about them…"

"I...don't get it."

Debbie gave Perina sheepish smile. "Eh, I guess an easy way to put it would be...just, how do you feel about the crystal gems and the earth?"

"That's all?"

"Pretty much."

"But that's so easy."

"Yeah, but that's what's fun about it."

* * *

 _I guess we're already here._

 _I guess we already know._

 _We've all got something to fear,_

 _We've all got nowhere to go._

 _I think you're all INSANE,_

 _But I guess I am too..._

 _Anybody would be if they were stuck on earth with you._

Debbie laughed right alongside the crystal gems, Steven laughing the hardest and cheering for Peridot as she blushed on her small wooden podium.

"O-Okay, since I sung you have too!" Peri pointed a finger at Debbie.

"What?" The woman blushed, flustered.

"Come on. It's so easy! Get up here!" Peridot demanded.

"Go on," Garnet smiled slightly, "Show us what you got?"

"Better make it good music woman!" Amethyst bared her teeth in a teasing grin.

"Come on, please?" Steven begged and Pearl merely offered a small encouraging smile.

"Ah..okay then."

Getting up with a very prominent blush, Debbie stood next to Peridot. The woman couldn't help but roll her eyes at the sharp toothy grin on the small Gem's face.

"Oh jeeze…"

"Come on," Peri grinned. "Show them."

"Okay, okay...ahem."

 _I've been making some good friends._

 _It's been quite a ride._

 _They're unlike anything out beyond all space and time._

 _All different shapes and sizes._

 _Saving humanity from its demises._

 _Oh where would the earth be without all you guys?_

Debbie blushed as Steven and Amethyst grinned widely, even Garnet and Pearl visibly brightened.

"Wow! That's awesome!" Amethyst whooped, "that's was pretty rad girl!"

"Amethyst is right, you sing very well." Pearl smiled.

"The lyrics were pretty great too." Garnet said with her little half-grin.

"I told you they'd like it." Peridot puffed up proudly.

"Yeah, you did. You were right." Debbie blushed, offering a grin.

"I know. Aren't I always?" Peridot beamed smugly.

"Uh, no. Not at all." Debbie smirked and gave the gem a playful tug on the nose.

"Hey!"

Steven and the other gems burst out laughing as Peridot shouted at Debbie, though it was all in good fun that lasted well into the night.


	22. A Sucker For Love

**Alright, so I've managed a few adjustments. Ch. 18,** _ **Mecha Mayhem**_ **, has been replaced with a shorter chapter and I've decided to leave the rest of the story mostly as is. There was a large word count in that story that I...well, it wasn't my chapter really. I hate that I forced myself into a corner like that. But hopefully it will be very different from here on out. Thank you to everyone that stuck with me!**

 **TheBookWorm106** **: You have no idea how much that means to me. The only chapter I changed completely was Ch. 18. So hopefully it's up to par with what you were expecting. Thank you so very, very much!**

 **DragShot** **: (gives you a hug) thank you! And yeah, that was my issue. It was getting to the point where I had just inserted and OC into the show's set plot. That's not what I want. So I hope I can put this story back on track.**

 **Therichardater** **: The wait is over...my friend.**

 **Anzac-A1** **: ...oh well? I mean, there are ancient human stadiums from way long ago. Besides, if it's really an issue...then this is a cartoon and we'll all just say baseball was a gem sport and they made a stadium for it that ultimately got destroyed...truce?**

* * *

"You're what?!" Peridot gawked as Debbie hefted the last of her personal effects into the bed of her old pickup truck.

Debbie managed a small chuckle at the small gem's indignation. "I'm leaving, Peri. I've got to go take care of the house. Remember that old man, Mr. Madruid?"

"Vaguely…" Peridot crinkled her nose, "He...I set the featheroids on him, right?"

"Yeah, that's the guy." Debbie laughed, "I...honestly, I'm nervous whenever I leave the house for too long. There's always the chance that man will work up the balls-."

"What does balls have to do with anything?"

"The _courage_ ," Debbie rolled her eyes, "To come back and make another attempt at kicking me off the property."

"You never told us another human was trying to take your home away."

Debbie jumped and spun to find Pearl approaching them. Garnet, Steven and Amethyst weren't far behind. The ginger-haired woman chuckled nervously, face flushed with embarrassment.

"It's...well, it ain't something I'm all too proud of."

"Yeah, she hasn't even told _me_ about this guy." Peridot puffed up. "So...what's he following you for anyway."

"This...it's a long story. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"If someone's bothering you, we want to know." Garnet spoke up with a firm, yet supportive tone.

"Yeah, you're part of this family too." Steven grinned. "Don't worry about the star though."

"Yeah, it's so hard to figure out where to put them anyway." Peridot huffed, eliciting a laugh from the woman.

"Okay, okay...really. Thanks. It means a lot." Debbie let out a long sigh, "But...wow. Where to even begin."

"Take your time, we've met our quota for the day." Pearl advised.

Debbie allowed a small smile to form. "Well...see, there was this family, the Marsons. They were quite surely the nicest people for miles around. The 'see a need, fill a need' type. Well, they had a young son, fresh outta high school who was going to get feed from a nearby town when he sees this woman. She's got the reddest hair, the darkest eyes, and the coldest, most guarded expression he's ever seen. And she's outside of this pawn shop, glancing at the door every few minutes." Debbie giggles, "The man, Tobias Marson, was looking at his future wife, my mother, Loraine Parley. Which was scandalous in its own right."

"Scandalous. He was just lookin' at her." Amethyst huffed.

"Oh, but it was scandalous. See, unbeknownst to most of the town, my mother was...okay, long story short, she was dating a very rich, very nasty man for his money. Rumor had she was, uh, exchanging some nightly favors for cash. And she was...but not because she wanted to. Everyone assumed that she did it because she was a lowlife who...well, Steven cover your ears." Debbie rubbed the bridge of her nose, "She was thought to be a slut for the hell of it." she muttered and signaled Pearl to release her hold on Steven, "So no one thought to ask her why she needed so much cash so quickly."

"What did she do?" Garnet asked.

"Loraine, hadn't done a damn thing. She needed money, cause her papa, my late grandfather, was sick. Really sick, and the doctor they needed in order to treat him wasn't a fan of low prices or discounts." Debbie smiled, "But Tobias wasn't like most of the town. He was very...thoughtful. He knew the man Loraine was waiting for. He couldn't imagine anyone in their right mind dating or paying favors to a man such as the one in the pawn shop. Tobias figured that the woman just needed cash. Without much further thought, my dad goes up to Loraine. Now, my pop was nervous as all get out. But, facing the raised brow of this beautiful woman with less clothes on than appropriate, the man thrusts a twenty into her palms that he was supposed to use to buy feed, and before she can say anything he says…

' _Well that ought to knock off a few nights from that greasy bastard, yeah?'_

And with that, my father wishes her a good day with a face redder than a tomato and stiffly walks off. If he would have looked back, he'd of seen shock, awe, and the ice melting away from my mother's heart."

Debbie paused to laugh at the wide smile both Garnet and Steven sported. Amethyst was snorting while Pearl and Peri merely urged her on. Debbie smiled and absently scratched at her arm.

"Tobias got shouted at for giving away money, but wasn't punished too severely once he was allowed a moment to defend himself. Then, two days later right before the Marson family was sitting down to eat, they hear a knock at the door. Mrs. Marson opens the door and immediately hollers for Tobias. Now, everyone's gathering around to get a look at this stranger." Debbie giggles at the memory. "It's Loraine. She's dressed more than usual as her face is nearly as red as her hair. Tobias stands in front of her, his family gathered behind him, but before he can say anything, Loraine bows her head in respect and says,

' _You have no idea what you've done for me. Your kindness...my father's going to live now. My momma and I won't have to watch him suffer and waste away anymore. I really can't thank you enough for allowing me to save him_ and _get away from that awful man.'_

And she offers him this beautiful smile that turns his cheeks redder than a tomato. Meanwhile his family is floored and ushers the girl in for supper. She becomes a regular part of the family and soon enough, Loraine and Tobias are in a happy relationship. They had me a few years later...but…"

"But, what?" Steven asks, his face falling.

"Well, you see...my father is in the military now. But he's been...MiA for a very long time. Presumed dead and that...it was too much for my mother. She left me behind...left the house and never came home a few years back. So I went to live with my grandparents, the Marsons from my story. However, my grandmother, Sue Marson is in the nursing home and my grandfather died of a heart attack just a year and a half ago. So I'm the only one still caring for the farm, where Mr. Madruid comes in…" Debbie smirked, "Betcha can't guess where he fits into the story, can you…"

"He wasn't...no…" Peri gasped and Debbie laughed.

"That's right. The greasy man in the pawn shop was ole' Mr. Madruid. He had a fixation on my mother and never forgave Tobias for 'stealing her away' from him. He's had it out for me ever since. He thinks I'm an easy target and wants to take away that house of mine where my father once lived and where my mother came to live. He wants to take away what he can't stand, the fact that he lost and that I came of that loss. But I don't think I could bear seeing that place in any hands but my own...so, I have to keep fighting him...unfortunately, he controls the payments I have to make alongside most of the buildings in the next town over. So I have to be careful-."

"Not anymore you don't." Garnet huffed and rose to her feet.

"Garnet," Pearl began to chide, silenced solely by the way Garnet set her jaw.

"Madruid can try to take this house, this story of love away from Debbie, but I have yet to find an outcome where he succeeds." Garnet stated and made her way over to the passenger side of the truck, "Come on, Debbie. If you've got everything packed, we should go now. Madruid should be heading there too."

Eyes widening, Debbie quickly clambered into the truck and began starting it up. Though she couldn't help but laugh as everyone began piling into the bed of her truck, trying to find a place to sit amongst her tools and effects.

"This ought to be fun?" Debbie chuckled nervously once she was well on her way to the farmhouse.

"Don't worry, Debbie." Garnet assured her with a grin, "You've got the Crystal Gems on your side, so relax. We don't plan on losing."

"...thanks, Garnet."

The gem shrugged, but was still smiling. "What can I say? I'm a sucker for a good love story."


	23. A Monster Named Jealousy

**Just out of curiosity, does anyone else think that Lapis and Peridot will eventually fuse and even dabble with the idea of becoming a Perma-fusion like Garnet? I mean...I think they'd try but their personalities would likely clash a lot. Lapis is pretty...uh, nonchalant and the strong silent type. But Peridot is prone to freaking out and overreacting with varying levels of hype. I dunno...I just have a hard time visualizing their personality dynamic as a fusion.**

* * *

Alien scrap metal was actually worth quite a lot if you knew what to do with it. As one could assume, there were numbers to calls and dates to set up with agents who would come and pick up alien artifacts or bits of their tech for some pretty substantial cash. And as luck would have it, Debbie's farm was littered with wreckage. Whether it be thousands of years old and unearthed by her farming equipment or bits of one of Peridot's contraptions gone awry, Debbie found herself with no shortage of cash flow. So Debbie felt she owed it to herself to do a little self-care after the world was finally prevented from ending. Such things, were well above her pay-grade...not that she didn't enjoy it at least a little bit.

Two months in passing found Debbie sitting on her porch swing, wrapped in an afghan, and a hot plate of breakfast in her lap. The woman smiled despite her loneliness.

"It's almost too quiet around here without you Peri," the redhead whispered to the sunrise, "It's strange...heh, I think I might wind up missing you more than I thought I would."

A few minutes passed quietly for the woman, but a loud shimmery noise from inside her house nearly sent her hot plate clattering to the floor. Debbie set the plate aside but took the fork with her as she bolted back into her house.

A stream of alien-esk curses flowed in a stream from the basement and Debbie snickered. The pitch was impossible to misplace. The ginger made her way slowly down the wooden stairs and found Peridot struggling to untangle herself from a box of Christmas lights.

"Need some help, shorty?" Debbie chuckled, making her way over to help regardless of the answer.

"Ah, Debbie! I was hoping you'd be around!" Peridot bared her teeth, "And I won't be short for long! In a few more days, my fabricator will be complete!"

"Fabri-what?" Debbie raised a brow and finally lifted the green alien from the box.

"Fabricator! It can make anything so long as it has blueprints and materials!"

"Oh...so it's like a 3D printer…?"

"...a what?"

"A...y'know what? Never mind." Debbie grinned, "So what did you need?"

"I...well, I wanted to...um," Peridot twiddled her thumbs for a moment. "Okay, so Lapis kicked me out of the house-."

"Whoa, whoa, back up! Who's Lapis? And since when do _you_ have a _house_?" Debbie gawked.

Peridot seemed surprised, "Oh...right. I forgot. You haven't met Lapis yet."

"Is she friendly?"

"Well, sorta. Once you get to know her…" Peridot grinned sheepishly.

Debbie just laughed, "How's about we move the conversation upstairs? I don't want to be down here with the spiders much longer than I have to."

* * *

"So...yeah," Peridot smiled sheepishly, "It took forever to win her over...but now we live together!"

"...ah."

Peridot raised a brow, "That's all you've got to say. Ah? What's wrong with you?" The gem huffed, "I thought you'd be...I dunno, more excited?!"

"I am happy for you." Debbie said calmly, yet a blush marred her cheeks, "I just, well, I kinda...oh geeze this is embarrassing."

"What? Spit it out already!" Peridot bounced her leg impatiently from the loveseat.

Debbie sighed, a sheepish look in her eyes. "I...uh, I think I'm a little jealous of this, Lapis Lazuli."

Peridot's eyes grew wide, "Wait...you're jealous of Lapis? Why?"

"I've...honestly I've been missing having you around as of late." The ginger admitted, "While I'm glad to see you're making friends and moving on, I can't help but envy Lapis a little."

"Oh...I didn't…" Peridot wrung her fingers awkwardly, "Wow, I hadn't even realized how long it's been since I saw you last. I was so worried about Lapis I didn't really think about this place all that much…"

Well... _that_ stung a little.

Debbie couldn't deny the pang of hurt that balled in her chest. She could almost feel herself deflate a little as she downcast her eyes. "Oh...uh, I see."

"You okay? You look a little redder than normal." Peridot raised a brow.

"I'm fine. Thanks." Debbie muttered.

"You sure? Steven got sick a-."

"I said I was fine, Peridot." Debbie snapped and stood up from the couch, "Look...I, not gonna lie, I need to go lie down...distract myself for a little while."

"H-hey! Wait!" Peri yelped as Debbie stormed out the front door, "What's your problem?!"

"Just leave, Peridot!" Debbie snapped, "I don't want to talk to you right now…"

Peridot slowed to a halt and watched the redhead disappear into the field without even a glance back, "...what just happened…?"


	24. Blunt and Honest

Debbie knew she'd overreacted; knew she would too. She'd struggled with things like this for as long as she could remember.

As much as she used to deny it, she had since come to accept her problem. Not that accepting it had made it any easier to deal with. Long story made short, Debbie was very...possessive of her friends.

When it came to people, she wasn't big on sharing. She'd noticed it a little when it came to Steven and the other Crystal Gems. There was this slight barrier of tension. It was likely that Debbie was the only one contributing to it as well.

The woman groaned, slumping in old leather loveseat. "God damn it." She muttered and dragged a hand down her face, "I have problems."

Jealous. That was it, really. Debbie didn't want to share Peridot with this Lapis character and was now jealous of Lapis' budding, if not fully-fledged, relationship with the little green gem.

"...I should apologize."

* * *

"I don't get it," Peridot huffed, pacing the length of the barn's interior. "Debbie has never shut me out like that! What's her deal?"

Lapis raised an eyebrow but remained otherwise impassive, "You did say you hadn't thought about her."

"So? It's true. I've been busy." Peridot huffed, folding her arms with a stubborn frown.

"So if Steven forgot to call you on Saturday, like he does every Saturday, and his excuse was 'I was out making friends', you wouldn't be at least a little mad?" Lapis asked.

"No, it's one Saturday-."

"Then what if he kept forgetting? For like...a month? Maybe two." Lapis pressed, actually mustering a little glare.

"He wouldn't though." Peridot huffed, "It's Steven."

"But what if he _did_?"

Peridot tapped her touch-stumps nervously, unsettled by the thought. "I...guess I'd be a little...I dunno. I would feel...small?"

"Exactly." Lapis muttered, rolling onto her back to stare at the ceiling, "We should really do something with the roof."

"Argh, why are you taking her side anyway?" Peridot snapped, "It's not like you've met her."

"But I know what being abandoned feels like."

"I didn't abandon her!" Peridot shouted.

"Does she know that though? Cause all you told her was that you 'hadn't really thought about her' these last few months." Lapis countered evenly.

Peridot fell silent, feeling worse than before. "I hate this."

"You hate being wrong."

"That doesn't mean you're always right!"

"Sure, sure."

Peridot frowned deeply. "Fine, I'll be back later!"

Lapis watched, face expressionless, as Peridot ran for the warp and disappeared in a flash of light. The blue gem offered a little hum and silently wished her green roommate good luck.

* * *

Debbie hadn't expected to see Peridot back so soon. Or to see her so out of breath and at the top of her stairs. The ginger stared in surprise at the gem who gave her a not-quite-glare and marched right up to her.

"Peridot…?"

"Debbie, I realize now that I may have hurt your-."

"I'm going to stop you right there," Debbie interrupted, holding up a hand and forming a stern thin line with her lips. "You shouldn't apologize. I owe you the apology."

"M-me…?"

"Yeah, you." Debbie sighed and somberly patted the space next to her on the couch.

Curiously, Peridot padded over to the woman and took up seat beside her. The woman was quiet for a moment, opting to slowly thumb her warm mug as she gathered her thoughts.

"I...Peridot, I'm sorry." She said slowly, "I tend to be very...possessive, when it comes to my friends. I can't really give you a reason why. That's just how I can be sometimes...not that I'm saying it's right."

"Still, Lapis said that you might have felt abandoned. I didn't mean to make you feel small like that, if I did." Peridot mumbled, stealing a glance at the woman.

Debbie actually chuckled a little. "Again, I'm selfish with my friends. So, maybe I did feel a little lonely, that doesn't make lashing out at you okay. You have your friends too."

"...do you have any other friends, Debbie?"

Much to Peridot's surprise, the woman lowered her head. A bright flush marred her cheeks. "Uh...no, not really. There's not many people I talk to...I guess. Maybe I'm just scared or something. Who really knows at this point."

"So...wait, am I your only friend?" Peridot gawked, not quite willing to believe it.

"What? No! No, no, no! I have other friends...I just. I mean I don't have friends around here." Debbie laughed, "They, uh, I lived in an apartment with some friends in Empire City a few years ago. After I moved here I lost touch with them...even though we were like one big family."

"W-well, you've got me!" Peridot stammered, "And Steven and the other gems. Maybe even Lapis."

"Heh, thanks Peri. But you really don't have to keep cheering me up. I'm just glad you came back for a little while. We haven't really hung out all that much."

"We could hang out now."

"...I'd like that."


	25. Blue Lips Blue Pain

"...so, uh, you're Lapis?"

"Yeah. Debbie, right?"

"Mm, yeah." Debbie rubbed her shoulder with an awkward grin, "Heh, sorry. This is weird for you too right? Like, strangers aren't really your thing."

"Uh, yeah. Pretty much."

Debbie chuckled, somewhat sheepishly as Lapis watched her with that nearly expressionless gaze. Lapis seemed pretty closed off, emotionless almost. Though something told the redhead that the gem just wasn't a people-person.

Debbie shook away her doubts and instead, offered an easy smile.

"Right. Fair enough." She relented, "I'll try not to be too...y'know...overly friendly?"

"Cool," Lapis scratched her arm with a look of mild indecision. "Look, I don't mean to sound rude, but why are you here?"

Debbie snorted, finding she almost appreciated Lapis' unfiltered curiosity. "Uh, Peridot invited me over. She wanted to show me around the barn. Said something about...uh, Camp Pining Hearts and clothing."

"Oh, you like CPH too? Weird."

"Hmph," Debbie shrugged, "Sure, it's not bad. I just hope season six doesn't wind up like season five did."

"They're making another season?"

"Mhm, it comes out in November, I think."

"Debbie! Lapis! C'mon!" Peridot shouted from inside the barn, "Camp Pining Hearts is on in five minutes!"

"Be right there!" Debbie called.

Lapis nodded, waiting until Peridot retreated back into the barn before releasing a heavy sigh. "Hn, Peridot seems to like you."

"You think so? We've known each other-."

"I'll give you a chance since you make her happy," Lapis continued, ignoring Debbie altogether, "But that doesn't mean we're friends. I don't...really want to make a lot of those anyway."

Debbie regarded the gem for a moment, ultimately offering a small smile.

"I understand." Debbie replied calmly, throwing Lapis for a slight loop. "Mutual tolerance, mutual respect. Sound good?"

"Y-yeah, sure."

Debbie offered one last nod before heading towards the barn, missing the strange look Lapis gave her.

By the end of the night Lapis was pleasantly surprised. Debbie hadn't tried to talk to her really, but still made a subtle effort to include her.

Perhaps they could get along.


	26. Site War

"Debbie, you should _really_ make a Chirp account." Peridot drawled, that ever so condescending tone in place, "Like really, then you wouldn't have to...to...uh," Peridot rubbed her head.

"You could compare pictures." Lapis chimed in, though barely paying attention.

"Yeah! Mine would be so cool, not to brag." Peridot grinned.

"Gee, thanks Peridot. But I think I'll stick to Stumblr."

"Stum-what now?" Peridot raised a brow.

"That sounds stupid."

"Hush," Debbie rolled her eyes, "Stumblr. It's kind of like Chirp, except better. Or at least I think so."

"No way! Not possible!" Peridot huffed and jumped onto the couch beside Debbie, ignoring the creaks of the wooden platform. "Lemme see."

"See, it's all organized." Debbie smiled and showed the gem her phone. "You can post pictures, videos, words, quotes, links, chats, audio, whatever really. It's all pretty well laid out. I like it at least."

"It's like Chirp...but not. How peculiar." Peridot murmured. "...since when can you cook like that?"

With a sharp squeak Debbie snatched the phone away from Peridot, "T-that's enough! No more photos! M'kay?!"

"H-hey! Debbie give it back! I wanna see!"

"Oh, no! No way!"

"Come back here!"

"Try and make me, Peri _tot_!"

" _DEBBIE!_ "


	27. The Fruits of Labor

A sigh of relief escaped the woman when Peridot _finally_ accepted her FaceTime request. Sure enough, the mini green alien blinked in only minor surprise as the screen flickered to life with the laggy image of Debbie's face.

"Oh, hey Debbs'." Peri murmured quietly, "What's up?"

"Not much, just got back from town. You were right; between my scrapyard and fruit trees and your guys' vegetables, sales were a hit." Debbie smiled slightly, "But that's not why I called. I heard from Steven that something might have happened with Lapis. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, remember those Rubies I told you about?"

"The ones you played baseball with?"

"Yeah, them. One of them crashed on earth." Peridot sighed and settled on the couch with a frown, "Navy, I think? Yeah, Navy. She stole our ship _and_ put Lapis in a mood."

"In a mood, huh? Isn't she usually in one of those anyway?"

" _Debbie._ " Peri admonished with a glare.

"Sorry, sorry. That was rude, my bad." Debbie muttered and ran her fingers through her hair. "You two've grown really close, y'know?"

"You think so? Really?"

"Yeah, I'm sure of it." Debbie smiled, though it was somber. "To be honest, you two really...I dunno. Sometimes I'll think of Garnet, and it makes me sad."

"Garnet makes you sad? Why?" Peridot raised a brow, a slight smirk on her mouth.

"Not quite." The ginger snorted. "No, sometimes I wonder if you and Lapis-."

"Whoa, whoa, no! No, no, no, no, no!" Peridot screeched, "No way! Lapis would never! She...she wouldn't- oh! It's complicated!"

Debbie raised a brow, "Oh?"

"Look, I wish I could tell you Debbs. Really, I do. But I wouldn't want to...y'know?"

"No, that's okay. I get it." Debbie shook her head. "Tell her I said, hi. Oh, and I'll bring your split of the earnings tomorrow, kay?"

"Sounds good, see you tomorrow, Debbs."

"Yeah, see you later, Peri."


	28. Tension

Hanging out at Peri and Lapis' barn was usually pretty fun. Debbie had to admit, despite her lingering jealousy, that Lapis and Peridot worked well together. The red head yawned as she pulled her truck to a slow halt and parked it off to the side.

Right away, she could see Lapis sitting atop the barn. Shaking her head, the woman opted not to try and get her attention. She still wasn't sure where she stood with Lapis anyway.

Instead, she sent Peri a quick text, grabbed the cash box, and made her way inside.

Behind one of the sculptures Peridot and Lapis kept a safe. Usually only miscellaneous things were stored inside, such as one of Peri's limb enhancers and some reflective glass from only who-knows-where.

"What are you doing?"

Debbie flinched, feeling a rise in her pulse at the cold tone.

"Ah, Lapis. Good to see you."

"Yeah, okay." The blue gem raised a brow. "Is that our split?"

"Correct you are. All sixty-five percent." Debbie affirmed and closed the safe, "So...you're alone today?"

"What about it?" Lapis narrowed her eyes, "Were you going to try something?"

"Excuse me?" Debbie frowned, rising to her full height. "And what exactly are you implying?"

"You stop by. A lot. Why?" Lapis scowled, "Humans don't like gems. The humans that know, anyway. So why do you keep coming back?"

"Because Peridot is my friend. And she just so happens to live here." Debbie huffed, "And, Steven is a human. I thought you liked him."

"He's half-gem," Lapis scowled, "And that's different."

"Hardly, but I also hardly care." Debbie shook her head, "Besides, Peri clearly isn't here so I've got no reason to stay anyway."

The two held gazes for only a moment, Debbie choosing to break it. Pushing past Lapis, the woman roughly swung open the driver's door and climbed inside.

At least _she_ knew when she wasn't wanted.


	29. Experimentation

_I've spent a very long time deciding,_

 _If this, was worth my time._

 _And after all this time inside my mind_

 _I'm no closer to what I hope to find._

 _I spend all this time alone here,_

 _No one to fill my days,_

 _Oh, how I wish you were here…_

 _Just like the good old days..._

* * *

"...Do you _always_ write sad songs?" Peridot asked slowly, raising a concerned brow.

Debbie rolled her eyes, though couldn't find it in herself to be too mad. "No...well, not always. When I'm sad I write songs to stop feeling sad."

"Oh! Hey, there's a word for that. Garnet and Steven taught it to me and Lapis!" Peridot smirked triumphantly. "It's called _coping_."

"Mhm, so I guess _Lapis_ likes to cope with alone-time?"

The gem grinned, "Eh, sometimes. But...that's not the only reason I'm here."

"Oh?" Debbie raised a brow, reclining on the sofa, propping her head up on her arms. "I don't suppose you want a cooking lesson?"

"Mm, maybe later." Peridot jumped down from the couch and dragged her overnight bag to the center of the room.

"Remember the gem belt?"

"You mean the one I refuse to use? Yes, vaguely."

Peridot rolled her eyes, "Yes, yes, but do you know what that means?!"

"No, enlighten me." Debbie chuckled with a slight smirk of amusement.

"You, my dear Debbie, are one of the only complete humans -aside from the human, Connie- to have fused with a gem!"

"Wait, fused?" Debbie yelped, sitting upright in shock, "But, but I thought you guys equated fusion to like...uh, relationships? Or sex...or something?!"

"Um, not necessarily…" Peridot scrunched up her nose, "At least, that's how Homeworld sees it. And how I used to see it…" Peri then let out a snort, "Which would be really funny considering the two that make up Smoky Quartz. What would Homeworld say about that?"

Debbie groaned, her face flushing a deep red color, "Okay, well. Whatever. Where were you going with this?"

"I'm glad you asked," Peridot grinned even wider, hoping excitedly, "You see, Debbie. The gem on the gem belt can be _removed_. I'd like to experiment with this!"

"Experiment...how?"

"To see if using an empty gem belt would allow a human to fuse, of course."


End file.
